THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 9, 1997 TAG: 9702090223
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WILMINGTON, N.C. LENGTH: 75 lines
Old Dominion found a new way to lose Saturday night at UNC Wilmington, but the hard-played 74-73 overtime heartbreaker felt better to the Monarchs than the flat effort they had given the previous game.
ODU couldn't stop the Seahawks from moving into sole possession of first place in the Colonial Athletic Association, but the team displayed some heart by rallying from 13 down in the second half. For the Monarchs - who were hammered by 28 at William and Mary Wednesday - this constituted progress, even if it was the sixth loss in its last eight games.
``You hate to lose, but we have to look at it that way,'' said point guard Brion Dunlap, who poured in a career-high 18 points and matched his season-high nine assists. ``Since the last outing against William and Mary we have to look at this in a positive way. Hopefully we can take this loss and build on it.''
ODU coach Jeff Capel called it ``a step.'' Perhaps after Wednesday's humbling loss, there was nowhere to step but up.
``Usually when we win we've had great effort, and when we lose we didn't play with effort and intensity,'' Capel said. ``Well here's a game where I think we played with great effort and intensity and great emotion, but yet it wasn't enough to win tonight against a good basketball team.''
Not that ODU (15-9, 6-6 CAA) didn't have its chances.
In regulation Odell Hodge (18 points, 11 rebounds, two blocks) made the first of two free throws with 20.4 seconds left to give ODU a 64-62 lead. UNC Wilmington's Bill Mayew scored underneath to tie it with nine seconds remaining. ODU sprinted upcourt, and E.J. Sherod's contested 5-foot baseline jumper wouldn't fall. The Seahawks rebounded and called time, but only got off a half-court heave at the buzzer.
The Seahawks (13-11, 8-4) jumped on top in the overtime and never trailed, although the game was tied three times. The final one was at 73-73. Mayew made a tough jump hook over Hodge with 1:26 remaining, then Hodge had his shot blocked but got it back and scored to tie the game with 1:10 left.
UNC Wilmington missed a shot and a tip, but got the ball out of bounds with a fresh 35-second shot clock with 39.2 seconds left on the game clock.
As the shot clock wound down, Seahawk Keith Spencer shot a baseline jumper over Hodge and was fouled on the arm. He made the first of two free throws with 4.8 seconds left. ODU pushed the ball upcourt after the miss, and Sherod fired a 30-footer at the buzzer that bounced off the rim. Sherod slammed the courtside press table in frustration.
``I thought it was going in off the glass,'' said Sherod, who called this the most intensity ODU had demonstrated in a game since its win over Virginia Commonwealth three weeks ago.
The Monarchs had fallen behind in the first half when UNC Wilmington went on a 15-2 run to open up a 29-16 lead. ODU cut it to 10 at the half but fell behind again by 13 early in the second half. But the Monarchs went on a 19-4 run of their own - sparked by seven consecutive points from Sherod - to open up a 61-58 lead with 3:59 to play.
``I don't think any team in our league is 10 points better than another, so if you run away from somebody early they're usually going to come back to you,'' UNC Wilmington coach Jerry Wainwright said. ``I think our experience in close games really helped us down the stretch. Our kids have been there before.''
Both teams shot 51 percent from the field and the game was about as even statistically as one could get. Mike Byers joined Hodge and Dunlap with 18 points, and Sherod added 13. Cal Bowdler started in place of Mark Poag, who continued to struggle and had four points in 29 minutes.
Stan Simmons and Spencer each had 17 to lead the Seahawks, winners of seven of their last eight.
ODU finished the road portion of its conference schedule 3-5. The Monarchs step out of conference at George Washington Tuesday, then close the regular season with four CAA home games.
``I don't think in the league they're going to lose again,'' Wainwright said of the Monarchs. ``They go home for four games and I think this game will really help them get back on track, and once they get back home I think they're going to be a team that runs the table and will be a real factor in the CAA championship.''